One problem related to parking brake linkage and cable has been reported for the 1996 Nissan Maxima. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
This car was parked on a driveway on the side of a home. The car was facing the street and the driveway had a slope downwards towards the street. The car has a five speed manual transmission. The car was parked with the parking brake pulled up and the gear in 2nd. About 45 minutes after the car was parked in the driveway and the driver went into the home, the parking brake cable failed and the car rolled into the street causing an accident - a car that was travelling on the street hit this car on the side as it rolled into the street after the parking brake failed. The car finally stopped by hitting a hill on the neighbor's front yard accross the street. Some of the neighbors noticed that the parking brake was in the up position (engaged). After this accident, the parking brake was found to have no resistance at all further supporting the claim that the parking brake cable failed. This is a serious malfunction in the car and should be pursued.